Some of my friends have been asking me, “why are you spending all of your free time — not riding your Harley — building a pond and patio in your yard, especially during a severe heat wave?”

Answer: It’s all about love.

What’s love got to do with it?

Simple. Here’s the story.

In the mid-90s, my spouse and I were fortunate to find a lot on which to build our house whose rear yard is an acre of old-growth forest. It is a real forest, complete with ancient oaks, maples, sycamores, poplar, ash, and walnut trees. We worked hard to clear the undergrowth, yet leave natural thicket in selected areas for birds, squirrels, rabbits, and other small animals to live and thrive in safety from attack from foxes and other predators that roam the forest. And the deer — plentiful herds of those four-legged monsters that eat everything in sight.

We built a meandering pathway through the forest, installed benches, and built an arched bridge over a stream. My spouse enjoyed the forest so much. He would just sit there, at peace, for hours and hours while I would do other things, like ride my Harley with my friends or go help my senior pals, or care for my aunt.

Unfortunately, he got bitten by a deer tick at one point or another when he was enjoying our forest. That tick bite resulted in a severe, prolonged, triple infection by nasty bugs transmitted by tick(s). My spouse went through an awful roller-coaster of severe symptoms as a result of these illnesses that took over 16 months after discovery to bring under control. Readers of this blog are familiar with that awful situation which I will not repeat in this post.

Now that my spouse is feeling better — not totally recovered but certainly better — I can tell that he misses our forest. Most days when I get home from work, I find him sitting in a chair on our deck that overlooks the forest. I can see it in his eyes that he misses being in the forest — not just looking at it, but being among the trees and watching the squirrels play, birds fly, and other animals buzz, hop, or scamper about. He does not complain, whine, or tell me that he misses “his” forest, but I can tell. Heck, that’s one benefit of being together as long as we have — I can usually read his mind.

Knowing him, loving him, caring for him, this is what I do. Build a pond and tick-free safety zone (patio with a protective outer ring that ticks can’t cross) — right there inside the forest — it truly is all about love.

I am pleased that the pond project is progressing well. We have water running in it now. More work to do — complete the patio and electrical work, install aesthetic features (stone facia on the front), and landscaping. It is a labor of love.
This is how I do what I frequently end this blog with — showing those I love how I love them (because life is short!)

UPDATE — my dream realized: